Montville superintendent says bullying not behind Friday suicide

Monday

Jan 31, 2011 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2011 at 6:54 PM

Montville Superintendent Pamela Aubin said Monday afternoon that bullying does not appear to be behind the Friday suicide of a high school student, following an internal investigation by district officials.

Adam Benson

Montville Superintendent Pamela Aubin said Monday afternoon that bullying does not appear to be behind the Friday suicide of a high school student, following an internal investigation by district officials.

"We are aware that bullying can be very secretive and very subtle, but the indications, to date, are not there," Aubin said. "There are lots of reasons that need to be investigated rather than automatically jumping to bullying."

Aubin said district officials will continue their investigation into why 15-year-old Joseph Mendes took his own life, but asserted that administrators and others within the school system take any complaint of bullying or other harassing behavior seriously.

"We follow that policy to the letter, and take any kind of allegation seriously," Aubin said. "We have done that in the past and we will continue to do that. Believe me, we have a sound policy in place. This is as puzzling to us as it is to anyone else."

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